Monday, October 12, 2009

Climate change is already wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of small-scale tea and coffee farmers in some of the world's poorest countries, according to a three-year research project by Fairtrade drinks producer Cafédirect.

Research across four countries – Kenya, Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua – carried out with the state-funded German Technical Corporation, showed that growers are already being forced uphill to higher altitudes, at a rate of three to four metres a year on average, as temperatures rise. "A huge number of growers are now experiencing increased instances of pestilence and disease from rises in temperature. They are also facing prolonged drought and changing weather patterns," said Cafédirect chief executive, Anne MacCaig.